19 November 2007

I'm talking about the store signs that remain in place even though the business in question has gone the way of the Dodo and a new shop has taken its place. (And I don't mean the ultra-hip, Lower East Side concerns that leave the old signage up for irony's sake; I mean the placards that stay put due to laziness, apathy and inertia.) How much can it possibly cost to remove a sign? Doesn't the new owner grow annoyed by the daily, constant reminder of an outfit than no longer exists?

Walking down Fifth Avenue in Sunset Park (a wonderfully ungentrified strip, by the way), I noticed this lonely little yellow-glass banner sticking out over the sidewalk. But no grocery there was. To the right was a 30-minute photo place. To the left something called H&K Cartoon World. It was hard to tell which space the grocery had occupied. The ghostly beacon offered not hints except that it once advertised a business that was open 24 hours.

No comments:

The original, running Jeremiad on the vestiges of Old New York as they are steamrolled under or threatened by the currently ruthless real estate market and the City Fathers' disregard for Gotham's historical and cultural fabric. Est. January 2006.Contact Me

About Me

I have lived in New York City since 1988 and earn my bread as a writer. I began this blog in January 2006. Beyond that, don't be so nosy.
"I am not a pessimist; to perceive evil where it exists is, in my opinion, a form of optimism."
—Roberto Rossellini